Western Maryland faces stiff competition to become the 51st State

CaptionWestern Maryland

Tim Swift / Baltimore Sun

The western panhandle faces an uphill battle to break away from mother Maryland. The last states to successfully split were neighbors West Virginia and Virginia. And that was 150 years ago, and we were in the middle of a national civil war.

The western panhandle faces an uphill battle to break away from mother Maryland. The last states to successfully split were neighbors West Virginia and Virginia. And that was 150 years ago, and we were in the middle of a national civil war. (Tim Swift / Baltimore Sun)

The idea of Jefferson which unites the rural border counties of Oregon and California is hardly new. The push to become the fourth Pacific coastal state has been around since the 1940s. (World War II stole the movement's thunder.) But recently idea is gaining steam as Oregon and California become even more urban. As recently as Sept. 3, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of secession from California to form another incarnation of Jefferson.

The idea of Jefferson which unites the rural border counties of Oregon and California is hardly new. The push to become the fourth Pacific coastal state has been around since the 1940s. (World War II stole the movement's thunder.) But recently idea is gaining steam as Oregon and California become even more urban. As recently as Sept. 3, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of secession from California to form another incarnation of Jefferson. (Tim Swift / Baltimore Sun)

A growing movement is advocating that the Western Maryland counties of Garrett, Allegany, Washington, Frederick and Carroll breakaway from the liberal Baltimore-Washington region to form a new state. But the new would-be state -- they haven't decided on a catchy name yet -- isn't only posse of counties looking to go rogue.